This old Peugeot, parked in front of the Multnomah County Health building on SE Stark, is a feast for bike nerds and a testament to its owner’s eye for beautiful and functional upgrades.(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Welcome back to Locked Up. It’s been two years since we last shared a beautiful and/or interesting bike we found parked in a Portland bike rack.

Today’s subject is a gorgeous, green, single-speed Peugeot mixte that caught my eye as I rolled into my office this morning. I love the classic and simple lines of these bikes and this one in particular has some very nice custom touches that made me loop back and take a closer look. As you can see in the photos below, the owner of this bike has added key upgrades including: a chromed chainguard (I don’t think it’s stock), a hub dynamo powered headlight and tailight, a durable set of tires, a wire front basket, a bell, a new pair of stout, metal fenders, aftermarket handlebars (wrapped in white bar tape to match the white saddle of course), and even a DIY frame strap near the bottom bracket to make it easier to carry.

It’s obvious that the owner of this bike knows what he/she is doing. I especially liked the spoke card in the rear wheel from a past Pedalpalooza ride.

The result is a bike that oozes class and manages a nearly perfect balance of form and function. Take a closer look via the photos below…

Nice huh? I love seeing old bikes still going strong and serving their owner’s well.

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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 10:04 am. Filed under Front Page and tagged with , Locked Up.
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Sheldon’s method is elegant, using a puzzle strategy to make locking a wheel into a seemingly secure technique. Unfortunately, especially since any comment opposing his theories feels like blasphemy in his absence, the method is flawed. Sheldon had assumed that the tension in the spokes would pull the rim together, binding a hacksaw blade and preventing anyone from simply cutting through the tire and wheel. That turns out not to be true: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9fLtdZyX-A.

Very nice, got the same diamond frame in my garage awaiting some attention. Early/mid 70’s.

No ones brought up the new Chainring either, pretty sure it would have been cottered cranks when this thing was made, also the not hallow steer tube upgrade. Some of the brake issues mentioned above, are likely sorted out with better hand levers than the originals, often that’s an easier and better fix than replacing the whole thing. I don’t think in too many cases that the brakes them selves are nearly as much at fault as the brake levers don’t offer enough leverage to get a really good bite.

Top notch job – though honestly if doens’t look anything is original but the frame/fork.

Sadly mine won’t be so nice when done, just going to convert it to a single speed and drop it on CL when I’m done.

Being hardly familiar with Peugots, I wonder if this one’s frame originally came with two shift lever bosses, and if so whether the second was intentionally or accidentally removed, or if one boss was recently added to it.

Hmmm…I don’t know; seems to me not the whole 90% of the world you refer to can even come close to affording that setup. Now if by “the standard bicycle” you refer to a decades old frame, internal gear hub, front basket, fenders, and a chain guard, then your statement makes more sense to me.